Katz insists police must handle West Bank settler violence after ...

Katz insists police must handle West Bank settler violence after spate of attacks

Emanuel (Mannie) Fabian is The Times of Israel's military correspondent

Defense Minister Israel Katz says all aspects of settler violence in the West Bank must be handled by the Israel Police, following a spate of attacks over the weekend, while claiming that the army does not support renewing administrative detention orders against suspects.

“The handling of the serious violence perpetrated by a handful of Jewish rioters in Judea and Samaria (West Bank) must be placed entirely under the responsibility of the Israel Police’s Judea and Samaria District, including prevention, investigation and prosecution,” says Katz in a statement.

In August, Katz ordered the IDF to draw up plans to “transfer responsibility for civilian enforcement in the West Bank to the Israel Police,” a move widely seen as impractical in the lead-up to a national election.

“The IDF should not and cannot engage in civilian law enforcement, but rather fight Palestinian terrorism and defend the country’s borders and the Jewish communities,” Katz says.

He says that in accordance with his order in August, “the IDF has prepared a comprehensive plan to regulate civilian law enforcement activities” in the West Bank, which he says distinguishes between the IDF’s authority in the territory and the “transfer of responsibility for actual civilian law enforcement to the Israel Police’s Judea and Samaria District.”

Katz says he spoke with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu about “implementing the plan as soon as possible, including holding discussions and coordinating between the IDF and the Israel Police, and allocating the necessary budget and personnel resources to the police’s Judea and Samaria District to carry out the task.”

“The plan does not include recommendations to reinstate administrative detention orders against settlers in Judea and Samaria,” Katz claims, calling it a “draconian measure that I canceled upon taking office as defense minister and which I have no intention of reinstating.”

The tool allows authorities to hold suspects indefinitely without due process.

“Administrative orders are not the solution, but rather strong and effective police enforcement,” he says.

However, Katz has authorised and boasted of using administrative detention orders against Palestinian terror suspects and Arab Israeli citizens who have alleged ties to terror groups.